Make Your Own Owl Doorstop

Now that the weather is warming up, we’re feeling more and more like leaving our door open when we’re at home. The only thing is that we live in ‘the windy city’, so we need something to keep our door from banging shut. I thought I would use some of my scrap fabrics to make a decorative doorstop.

Would you like to make one too? Let me show you how…

1. Draw a basic rounded triangular shape for the body of the owl, and a rectangular piece for the bottom. Pin them to your main fabric and cut two pieces for the body and one for the bottom piece. Remember to allow room for the seam – either make your pattern bigger than your owl, or cut around it 1-2cm out from the paper.

2. Use scraps of fabric, felt and buttons to decorate the face of your owl. Hand- or machine-stitch them on (remember that seam allowance – don’t place anything too close to the edges unless you want it to go into the seam).

3. Place the body pieces with their ‘right’ sides together, then sew around them, leaving the bottom open and a gap in one side for filling.

4. Attach the bottom piece (this can be a little fiddly, but persevere and you’ll get there!) and turn it all the right way around through the gap. Go around the seams with a pencil to ensure it’s all fully turned out.

5. Feed a plastic bag into the hole, then pour rice into the bag to fill the owl and make it heavy enough to hold the door. A funnel may help with this step, if you have one! I used almost 3kg of rice for my owl.

6. When your owl is fully stuffed, tie off the end of the bag and hand-sew the gap closed. Pop him in front of your open door and your cheery little owl will welcome the sunshine in.